Pugdate

Just thought I'd post some new pics of the Puggies in all their glory doing what Puggies do best. Okay, really what they do best is bark, chew, pee, chase tails, bite backs of legs, whine, hog the bed, poo and rip heads off of innocent stuffed animals.

Regardless, they're mine.

De motivational speaker

I used to sit in the 1000 person auditorium in my high school mesmerized by the motivational speaker. He would stand on the stage showing slides with sayings like, "If you smile, the world smiles with you" and motivational quips of the sort. I always left there thinking, "He is totally right. If I am a good person, I will be happy. If I am a good listener, people will listen to me. If I am a good friend, I will have good friends. If I respect others, they will respect me".

Well, he lied. He flat out lied to the 900-odd teenagers sitting there.

I am not being a Negative-Nancy, or a Bitter-Betty, but after the week I had I can't think that anything else is true. First off, let me say, I am a good person. Yes, I sometimes whine, or have a tiny Pity-Party for myself, but who doesn't. I try to make others happy. I listen to everyone spouting off in detail (long, drawn-out detail) about their problems and never expect anything back. I bail people out of bad situations and don't expect to be bailed out. I make compromises. I "do unto others as I would have them do unto me". I trust people in hopes they can trust me. I am a good friend. I am a good girlfriend. I am (trying to be) a good daughter-in-law. So, in Motivational Speaker Theory, I should have nothing to complain about....everyone should be treating me the same way I treat them. Oh, and don't get me wrong, if I was a TOTAL ASS I would expect nothing less than to be treated like one. But, I am not an ass and therefore should not be treated as such.

It just drives me crazy that I can feel like I put 110% in to things (work, relationships, family, friends etc.) and get a good solid 35% back. Really? I MEAN REALLY?! I am now at the point where I wonder if it is even worth it or if it matters.

Maybe, in light of all this, I should stop giving a flying-flip about everyone and everything else and then it will be all better. Maybe I'll stop caring what people's answers are to my "Mornin', how ya doin? Did you have a good weekend?" question. Maybe I'll stop inviting people over and fussing over what I will serve and whether or not they are having a good time. Or maybe, JUST MAYBE, I will start looking out for myself and not giving a crap how everyone else is, what they need, if I am doing a good job or being a good friend. I think honestly I shouldn't bother caring about stuff anymore because in the end, is it worth it? I mean worth it in the sense that I don't get crapped on, or spread myself too thin or don't have what I need to be happy.

No more Mrs. Bend-over-backwards to help/make others be happy just so I can get crapped on. Nope, no way José. I will just coast like everyone else does. I will just demand of others to make myself happy. I will crap on everyone if I don't like something they did/said or didn't do/say.

Now, doesn't that sound stupid? Seriously. After the fore mentioned week I had, I am now officially telling the world to pull its' head out of its big butt and get over it. LIKE REALLY! GET. OVER. IT. Take a look around. Let's all play nice in this big sandbox and at least TRY to be good to each other. I will if you will.

....and Mom and Dad, if you are reading this, you don't have to call, I am fine. Just a crappy ending to a craptastic week...Love ya!

Oh My Goodness, My Guinness!

Flippin' Finally!

Here is my completed painting of my puggy Guinness. While I have been off sick for a week, I spent a little time finishing it (in between hacking, aching and napping of course).

I like it. Guinness sniffed it, and liked it. Stella, well, she barked at it and ran under the table. I just think she is jealous. I guess I should probably do one of her too...but not today. I need a nap.

Lovely Love

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I still love Valentine's Day. It's just about love. Not just the fluttery-heart, butterfly-stomach new love, but all sorts of love. It's about finding a love, renewing a love, reminding a love, reaching out to a love. It's about not being afraid to love or to say you love. It's about letting yourself love and allowing yourself to feel loved. It's for lovers, friends, family and everyone you love. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Funny how one word sums up an entire day.

Go out there, give love, get love and be LOVE!

xoxo

My Rules.

This necklace was a Christmas gift to me...from ME. The time of year you are supposed to be thinking of what to buy everyone else and writing a list of suggestions for gifts you might like to receive. I couldn't resist.

I looked at all the other sayings they had on the scuffed silver discs laying in the display case...PLAY EVERYDAY...PRINCESS OF EVERYTHING...DON'T FORGET TO PLAY (which was my second choice)...and then I saw this. At first, it struck me as kinda cold -in a rude way. It made me think of a little girl in pig-tails and barefeet standing on a dirt pile, pouty lip hung out, glaring at her mother, not wanting to go inside to clean up and change out of her jeans for a family dinner. But, it was something I always thought about. Why shouldn't I be able to live how I want? As long as I am not hurting anyone else, or making the world a worse place rather than a better one, what's wrong with being me? I am not a bad person, in fact, I think I am a pretty decent person.

I circled around the words and then, saw them differently. MY LIFE. MY RULES. It isn't rude or cold at all. If I want to be a giver, I will give. If I want to be overly generous, I will. If I want to dance in the hallway and play air-guitar, I will. If I want to start my own business, I will (yes, even though "you have a stable job and good benefits with a guaranteed income" otherwise known as BORING!!!). If I don't ever want to grow up and only want to fly a bright red kite in the park with Mikey and my Puggies on a hot summer day, I WILL!!!! That's just it, it is my life and I am not going to be boring because I am over 30, I am not going to vote for Candidate A because someone tells me to and I will absolutely not live by anyone else's rules except for mine. (I mean, the law is different...I don't think the police would listen to me if I shouted "My Life, My Rules" as they threw me in a cruiser car for running naked through Osborne Village...)

I don't remember getting an official Instruction Manual on how to live life, so I will make my own. It's fair to say that if I just live a good life, do what I want to do and be happy, the world around me will be a better place...even if it is just my little world. That's not cold. That's not rude. That's just a rule.

I am going back to my dirt pile, in my jeans, where I am happy.

Are you sick again?!

Warning - this post may contain bitterness and ranting that may be offensive to certain readers. Reader discretion is advised.

You've been warned. I have the stupid &#$%# flu. Yep, I avoided it until now and BOOM...I have it. I think my favorite part about being sick is hearing the ever-supportive "Ugh...you're sick again?" comment while people screw up their noses and make me feel like the most irresponsible and unhealthy person in the world. Oh yes, I love being sick...it's one of my favorite things in the world. I LOVE feeling like I was hit by a semi truck, or axed between my shoulder blades and that my eyes are gonna pop out of my head at any time. Ooooh, and I love, love, love blowing my nose every three minutes and having no appetite so I can feel weaker and weaker as the hours pass. Yes, I absolutely love it and that is why I walk around licking door handles and standing in front of people who sneeze and cough at work when they are sick and SHOULD BE AT HOME SO THAT THEY DON'T MAKE ANYONE ELSE SICK!!!! BOOO! Boo on this flu! Boo on the healthier-than-thou attitude from others! Just BOO in general! I am sick, gimme a break. There's my rant. Oh, and P.S. people, I do take vitamins and eat decent and take care of myself!!!

Mikey was sick last week and then Stella had to go for her "girlie operation" on Thursday. I took Friday off to pick her up in the morning and baby her all day. She found a pillow on the floor, so I covered her up and let her sleep...until I took this picture. Poor little thing.
I started to feel crappy in the evening and called my mom (cause that's what I do when I need to whine a bit and receive unconditional sympathy). You know what she said? "Oh, you'll be fine...". BOO. So when I called her back yesterday sounding like an 80-year-old man who sings the Blues in New Orleans, she said, " Oh my God! I didn't believe you!" Oh Ma, she's so silly and I love her. See, I think whenever we were sick as kids, my mom thought we were faking so we wouldn't have to go to school - which wasn't entirely false. She would tell us "Go take a shower and you'll feel better". Another one of her "home remedies" whenever we we feeling blah was, "Go take a big poo and everything will be fine". When I told her on the phone that I tried taking a shower and a big poo and it didn't make me feel any better, we both laughed out loud...and then I coughed and sneezed and blew my nose and went for a nap. At least I can still laugh, I guess.

There is one thing I am not NOT laughing about though...my serious and maybe soon-to-be-fatal Starbucks withdrawal. I can't remember the last time I had a Triple Venti, Extra-Hot, Non-Fat Vanilla Latte. Do they deliver? I have the shakes. I am hallucinating. Oh wait, maybe that's just the fever. One thing I know for sure, Starbucks would never say, "Oh, you're sick again?!". No, it would welcome me, envelop me in steamed frothy-ness, surround me with milky esspresso goodness, wish me good health and well being and send me on my way to recovery. Starbucks is always a good friend....with benefits.

What's that Mr. Couch? You want me to come lie on you and watch a movie? Oh, and what...bring the Puggies? Oh sure, I can do that. Mr. Kleenex and Mrs. Tea are coming too. We'll have a grand old time!

Don't Blink

Watch this video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=p4ySSg4QG8g

Yes, I am forcing you. You may have seen/heard it already but if you have, watch it again. Johno (my dad) sent it to me a couple of weeks ago. We all know it, we all say it...enjoy every day and every moment, but we forget. I forget. It's not a secret that living in the now is sooooo very much easier than living in what happened yesterday or what may happen tomorrow.

Give love, give respect and don't blink.

Thanks Dad, for the reminder.

*The photo is of my brother and I when I was 5. That was 27 years ago and it seems like it was the other day.